Viking Emerald - A Water Question

[BlueDevil75]

I have enjoyed all of the reviews on your China trips. In spite of all of the information I am still not sure of one important item. I know that we cannot drink or taste the water when we are on land - bottled water only. But what about on the Emerald? Can we drink their water, brush our teeth, shower with our eyes and mouths open? Does the ship have the capability to distille enough water required for all of our needs? Would appreciate your feedback.

[H2Otstr]

Bottles of water are provided in your room. I brushed my teeth and took a shower with the tap water on the boat.

And each day there was a case of water on the excursion bus. Bottles were also on the desk by the doors for anyone who wanted to take them for their excursions.

Some of the restaurants did charge for extra bottles of water at mealtime. You can always take one with you from the bus if you want water in addition to another beverage (beer, Coke, Sprite).

[Turtles06]

It's not advisable to drink the tap water on the Emerald or use it for brushing your teeth, etc. (Glad that H2Otstr had no ill effects from having done so.) Bottled water will be provided in your cabin, and by the second day, our cabin stewards knew that we liked to keep a lot of bottles on hand and stocked our cabin accordingly. And there will be bottles available when you are disembarking for tours.

 

In the dining room on the Emerald, the water served is supposedly purified and you can drink it. We did.

 

(BTW, this is from the detailed info that Viking will send you before your trip: "Do not use tap water unless it is clearly marked potable/drinkable. A complimentary bottle of water per guest is placed in the stateroom and is replenished frequently." Apart from the fact that the faucets on board the Emerald do NOT say the water is potable, there would be no need for bottled water in the cabins if it was okay to use the tap water.)

[sk8teacher]

I am not familiar with the Emerald, but I seriously doubt that they separate the water used for cooking, making coffee, etc. from that used for showers, sinks, etc. The bottled water is provided for shore use primarily. I am fairly certain that when they refer to not drinking tap water, they are referring to water ashore, not on board.

 

I could be wrong however, and a call to Viking would clarify the matter.

 

Cheers,

[roothy123]

Yep, a call to Viking may be in order, but if you call, could you please report back here, as I'm (as always) curious? As for me, I'm planning to bring a long ribbon and tie it onto the faucet of each hotel we visit, plus the one on the Emerald! It doesn't take up much room, and may save me a stomach ache, or worse!

 

Thanks for asking the question, as I assumed the water on the Emerald was the same as everywhere else in China, but didn't really know.

[WishfulThinker]

We recently did the Beijing to Shanghai itinerary and religiously drank bottled water provided and also rinsed and cleaned toothbrushes with it. No problems. The quality of the hotels Viking provides is so high I could not imagine a problem with showers (keeping mouth closed, etc.) so did not alter that. While it was a bit of an inconvenience, we got used to bottled water every day, since it was readily provided, and had no ill effects. Must admit that being on the Emerald, in the Ritz Carlton and the Westin it was a temptation to just go ahead and drink from the tap, etc., but we did not. You did not ask, but this is a fantastic trip and you will thoroughly enjoy the Emerald.

[roothy123]

Hi Wishful Thinking. Thanks for reminding me that we should rinse our toothbrushes with bottled water! I may not have thought of that!

 

Since you've obviously traveled recently on the Emerald, could you answer a question for me? I'm never sure what the latest internet situation is, especially with Google. Some neighbors traveled last fall to China, and China and Google were in their squabble, so there was no Google access. However, the neighbor's son worked in China a few months ago, and he found that Google was OK, including gmail. If you use gmail, were you able to use it in China? Also, do you know if anyone used Skype successfully while there?

[WishfulThinker]

I can't remember if there was a problem with Google, but Facebook was blocked out completely. The Emerald has eight computers -- four on each side of a table, and people share. We had a very cooperative bunch on our trip, and it was a point of great celebration when one of the eight had internet access (not all worked all the time) and people would keep the connection open and call in waiting people to take advantage of the link. I am sitting here now and thinking we did not have Google search capacity, but perhaps someone who remembers specifically trying to use it for email can enlighten you. We use hotmail and that was no problem at all. You might want to sign up for an account there as a backup, and use it on your trip. Wish I could be more precise...

[WishfulThinker]

Sorry, missed your question about Skype. Did not use it on ship, but it worked like a charm in hotels.

[Turtles06]

The Internet room on the Emerald is a small room with 8 computers on a table at which folks are sitting side by side as well as directly across from each other. Apart from the fact that connection speeds along the Yangtze are often pretty slow, and Viking asks pax to limit the use of the shared computers to such things as checking email, having a Skype conversation in this room (if it even were possible) would be like carrying on a cell phone conversation in this shared, public room.

[suspaul]

Hi. We returned 5.16.2011 from Imperial Jewels of China and while we drank bottled water we did use tap water in the hotels & on the Emerald to shower and brush our teeth with. Our tour advisor told us that it's not that the water in China is dirty but that it was treated different than home and our stomachs were not used to it, thus the bottle water. Have no clue about the water situation in restaurants while on the tour and I did see them opening and pouring bottled water into pitchers on the Emerald but we had no tummy issues at all, maybe we just have cast-iron stomachs :) The only problem we did have was we both came down with colds/sinus infections, I can't stress enough, take the proper medications with you just in case, especially antibiotics that may or may not be needed.

 

In regards to internet usage, as stated there are computers and lots of times you could not get a connection unless you were near a larger town city and then it was even spotty so don't count on being able to use it often, some people were never able to get a connection. As for Google, we have our email thru gmail.com which is google, and had no problem getting into our email when able to log in.

 

We had a wonderful trip, Beijing to Shanghai, Viking did a top-notch tour and cruise. Enjoy!

 

Susan

[tommui987]

connection speeds along the Yangtze are often pretty slow,

 

True!

 

But you have to realize that when you are on the Yangtze, you are usually in the Gorge which is high. Not as narrow as the Corinth canal but perhaps just as high or even higher.

 

The satellite is usually at an angle to the gorge and not directly over head. If there is no line-of-sight, the signal will be extremely weak or even non-existent which explains why the connection speed along the Yangtze would be pretty slow - or so I'm told!

[Turtles06]

True!

 

But you have to realize that when you are on the Yangtze, you are usually in the Gorge which is high. Not as narrow as the Corinth canal but perhaps just as high or even higher.

 

The satellite is usually at an angle to the gorge and not directly over head. If there is no line-of-sight, the signal will be extremely weak or even non-existent which explains why the connection speed along the Yangtze would be pretty slow - or so I'm told!

 

It wasn't even a satellite connection on the Emerald, it was a cellular connection.

[BlueDevil75]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. Doing the the Cultural Delights Shanghai to Beijing trip starting August 15th. Hooray for bottled water.

[westcoastdjtoo]

Anyone out there been on the subject tour (particularly in 2011) and/or on the new ship Viking Emerald?

Interested in your reviews of all the above including land tours ..

Thanks we leave in late August!

[Bookboss]

westcoastdj...are you on the august 29th shanghai departure trip?

If s,o we will see you there...from north Florida, on the Suwannee River by way of Indiana and Kentucky. Traveling with real Florida cracker friends, too.

We are really looking forward to the trip...but do have some reservations about the "stomach issues", so we will be prepared.

Maybe we will see you soon.

 

danny and sheila

[westcoastdjtoo]

Yes, trip starts in Shanghai...ends in Beijing!

Not too worried about stomach issues...we'll just exercise normal caution! Looking forward to the trip..If there is a concern it might be with the altitude in Tibet.

We are four...two couples...we'll look for you onboard.

 

Dave, Marianne, Joe and Doreen:)

I'll be Dave

[Bushy H.]

Yes, trip starts in Shanghai...ends in Beijing!

Not too worried about stomach issues...we'll just exercise normal caution! Looking forward to the trip..If there is a concern it might be with the altitude in Tibet.

We are four...two couples...we'll look for you onboard.

 

Dave, Marianne, Joe and Doreen:)

I'll be Dave

Soooo how did you trip go??? No reviews?? You would be the lastest that I have found and we will be going in Sep 2012 Imperial Jewel, the other reviews above are older is the luggage still having problems in delivery and should we pack a set of clothes in a carry on whenever we move hotels? Thanks and hope you had a great trip!

Bushy